Water circulating pump for evaporative fluid cooling apparatus



Aug;v 13, 1957 H. MAL-KOFF WATER GIRCULATING PUMP FOR EVAPORATIVE FLUID COOLING APPARATUS 2 Shuts-Sheet 2 Original Filed 001,. 19. l

IN V EN TOR.

Mttornqya Uni ed States Pa n 9 WATER CIRCULATING PUMP FOR EVAPORATIVE FLUID COOLING APPARATUS Original application October 19, 1948, Serial No. 55,28 0. Divided and this application August 1, 1951, Senal No. 239,763

2 Claims. (Cl. 103-87) This invention relates to evaporative fluid cooling apparatuswhich is designed to chill and, in the case of gases to condense, fluids in pipe coils, or the like; the invention being especially adapted for embodiment in condensers of refrigerating apparatus, although it is also adaptable to the cooling of liquids such as water and oil in various types of machinery and industrial apparatus.

This application is a division of my application Serial Number 55,280, filed October 19, 1948, now Patent No. 2,583,149.

The invention is directed more particularly to means for circulating the cooling water through the apparatus, and has for an object to provide such means which cause a high rate of circulation without corresponding increase in power consumption.

Another object is to provide such an apparatus in which the water is circulated by a driven impeller or the like and which includes means for preventing the water acted upon by the impeller from being churned or swirled in a rotary direction. 7

A further object is to provide certain improvements in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts whereby a substantial increase in efficiency and economy in operation is secured and the above mentioned objects, as well as others inherent in the invention, are satisfactorily attained.

Practical embodiments of the invention are represented in the accompanying drawings in which:

' Fig. 1 represents a partly broken away and partly sectional elevation looking at the fan end of the apparatus, which is in the form of a unit adapted to be suspended from a ceiling;

Fig. 2 represents a partly broken away and partly sectional side elevation of the same;

Fig. 3 represents a detail section taken in the plane of the line III-III of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows; j

Fig. 4 represents a detail transverse section taken in the plane of the line IV-IV of Fig. 2; a

Fig. 5 represents a side elevation, partly broken away and partly in section, of a modified form which is adapted for floor installation; and

Fig. 6 represents an elevation, partly broken away and partly in section, taken at right angles to Fig. 5.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 4, the apparatus is presented in the form of a unit and has a casing which is preferably composed of metallic plates or panels, such as galvanized steel, and includes a top 1, sides 2 and 3, and a faceplate 4, the said parts being firmly secured to each other as by welding or riveting. Channel iron brackets 5 and 6 are fixed to the top 1, as by riveting or welding, and are designed to cooperate with any suitable type of ceiling hangers forsuspending the unit as a whole.

To the underside of the top 1 a water distributing pan 7, which may be composed of sheet metal, is fastened, preferably by welding, and from the said pan depend a 2 pair of coil header plates 8, 9, which are suitably apertured to receive the bends of a pipe coil 10, which is preferably composed of copper or'aluminum tubing and consists of a plurality of sinuous sections having their upper ends fitted into the side of a fluid inlet pipe 11 and their lowerv ends fitted into the side of a discharge pipe 12. It will be understood that the connection between the coil sections and the pipes 11 and 12 is fluid tight, and the said pipes are snugly fitted through holes in the face plate 4 so that inlet pipe 11 may be connected with any source of fluid supply, such, for instance, as the discharge of a compressor in a refrigerating apparatus, while the discharge pipe 12 may be connected with a suitable receptacle, such, for instance, as the receiver of a refrigerating apparatus.

vA combined reservoir and water catch pan 13, 14, preferably composed of sheet metal, such as galvanized steel,

embraces the lower part of the casing and is firmly secured to the casing sides 2, 3, in any suitable manner, such as by welding or riveting. In the drawing the said element 13, 14, is illustrated as of unitary construction, but it will be understood that it may becomposed of several parts suitably fixed to each other.

The reservoir 13 extends across the full width of the front or face plate of the casing and, at the lower portion of one side thereof is fitted a small chamber 15, which may be designated a plenum chamber and is connected to water distributing pan 7 by a vertically disposed water delivery tube 16, so that water may be forced from chamber; 15 to pan 7.

The bottom of pan 7 is perforated preferably in the form of a large number of nozzles 17, which are preferably of sufiicient diameter, e. g., one eighth of an inch orlar-ger, so as to permit water to pass therethrough without being atomized, and it will be clear that water pass-' ing through thesaid nozzles will descend upon all parts of coil 10 and that the water passing downwardly through and dripping from the coil will be trapped by the catch pan 14 and returned to the reservoir 13.

Uprising from pump plenum chamber 15 is a cylindrical housing {18 and the upper end of said housing is covered by a base plate" 19, which serves to support an electricpump motor 20, the drive shaft 21 of which Thei face plate 4 of the unit casing isprovided with alarge central aperture 27 within which is positioned a fan 28'tl1at is mounted on a drive shaft 29 of an electric motor 30, which latter is supported by four bracket arms 31],-that are suitably fixed to the motor, as indicated at 32, and are secured to the face plate as by bolts 33.

R willbe understood that pumpmotor 20 and fan motor 30 are connected to any suitable source or sources of it electric current, and it may be noted that the said motors may be subject to manual control only, as by suitable switches (not shown),and/or that the operation of eitheror'both may be subject tov automatic control by pressure or thermostatic switches in a manner which is well understood by those conversant with the refrigera tion industry and is not illustrated herein as it constitutes no part-ofthe'presentinvention.

' the end of the casing opposite the fan are secured upperand lower supports34, 35, to which are fixed a series. of vertically disposed eliminator blades 36,.which.

P'atented Aug. 13, 1957 are of zigzag form in cross section as shown in .Fig. 4, the purpose of the said blades being to separate entrained water globules from the air driven through the casing by the fan so that the said water may fall into catch pan 14 and bereturned to reservoir 13.

A pipe 37 leads from any suitable source of water supply to reservoir 13 and the said pipe is opened and closed by a valve 38, which is governed by a float 39,

the construction of said float valve being a matter of such common knowledge among mechanics and engineers as to call for no further explanation or description. A syphon tube 40 is also fitted in the wall of reservoir 13 for a purpose to be hereinafter described and a water overflow pipe 41 pierces the bottom of the said reservoir at 42 to provide against the maintenance of too high a level of water therein.

In operation, the reservoir is filled by supplying water through pipe 37 until it reaches thelevel of the top of pipe 41, at which time float 39 will close valve 38. It will be understood that this filling of reservoir 13 also fills housing 18 through holes 26, as well as pump plenum chamber 15 and the lower part of water delivery tube 16, the level of the water in housing 18 and tube 16 being the same as the level in reservoir 13. Pump motor and fan motor 30 are then set in operation and impeller 22, driven by motor 20, will force water through chamber 15 and tube 16 into pan 7, from which latter the water will rain down from nozzles 17 and thoroughly wet coil 10 therebeneath; the water passing through and dripping from the coil being received in catch pan 14 and returned by it to reservoir 13. The operation of fan motor 30 will, of course, rotate fan 28 and thus drive a current of air through coil structure 10 and out through eliminator blades 36. As the water dripping on the coil is of lower temperature than the fluid within the coil and the coil itself, some of the said water will be vaporized and thus serve to reduce the temperature of the coil and the fluid circulating therethrough. The air current from the fan will facilitate this action chiefly by its cooling effect upon the water which is falling from the pan nozzles 17, and the blades 36 of the eliminator will serve to separate most of the globules of water which are entrained by the current from the fan, causing the same to precipitate into catch pan 14 and be returned to reservoir 13. It will be observed that pan 7 extends over the space between fan 28 and coil 10, so that water falling from this portion of the pan will be carried by theair current from the fan against the front and lower part of the coil that is adjacent the fan, thus insuring that said portion of the coil is adequately wetted.

The foregoing operation will thus serve effectively to cool the coil and the fluid circulating therethrough with very little loss of water. This is an important industrial economy, not only because water supply is commonly metered and charged for, but also because there is frequently a limit to the amount of water which is available andalso a limit, as by ordinance, to the amount that can be discharged into sewage facilities. Thissaving in water is also promoted by the fact that the nozzle apertures in the bottom of pan 7 are large enough to permit the water to pass therethrough without being atomized,

and this size of the said apertures is of importance 1n.

that it tends to avoid clogging of the same which, to the extentathat it would occur in the case of smaller apertures, would correspondingly reduce the fall of water upon the coil. 4 l

A feature of great value in this apparatus is the enculating pump and associated parts which induce such a high rate of circulation of water that maximum heat transfer efficiency is achieved, with the further advantage that the rapid circulation. greatly minimizes thedeposrtion upon the surface of the coil of the salts and :the like normally presentin water, which deposition would materially :reduce the effectiveness'of the coil 'and :require cleaning-orrepair thereof. It has been found that the vanes 25 which are positioned above the impeller .22 are very effective in assisting ,the pumping action in that they are stationary andprevent the impeller action from churning or rotating the water within the housing 18; and it has also been discovered that the effectiveness of the pumping action is materially enhanced by positioning the impeller 22 so that it projects into chamber 15 whereby its area of rotation is partly within the housing 18 and partly within the said chamber 15. This projection of the impeller into the chamber 15 is preferably to the extent of about ten to thirty percent of the height of the impeller blades. The functional importance of this positioning of the impeller is due mainly to the fact that chamber 15 is larger in cross section than and differsin cross sectional shape from the housing 18.

Such loss of Water as occurs during operation will be automatically replaced by the action of float valve 38, 39, Which will permit the inflow of additional water when the level in reservoir 13 is reduced. It is, furthermore, occasionally desirable to drain off some of the water from reservoir 13 in order to prevent too high concentration of salts in the water being recirculated through the apparatus. This drawing off of a portion of the water from the reservoir 13 can be accomplished by manually or automatically opening the electric circuit from the source of power to pump motor 20, whereupon all the Water in delivery tube 16 above the level of overflow pipe 41, all the water in pans 7 and 14, and all the water intermediate said pans will return to reservoir 13 and raise the level of water in the latter to a height above the top of overflow tube 41. Should the overflow tube become clogged, the syphon tube will at once become effective and water will be syphoned therethrough from reservoir 13 until the water level is brought down to the extremity of the syphon tube within the reservoir, at which time the syphon action will be broken and the position of float 39 will permit the inflow of a new increment of water to the reservoir. It should be mentioned that the size of the syphon tube and the float valve should be of such relative proportions that the syphon action Will withdraw water from the reservoir more rapidly than it is supplied thereto through the float valve.

It is desirable that the pump motor 20 and the fan motor 30 have separate controls so that the pump motor,

' intermittently rather than continuously; and that, as

already indicated, the action of both the pump motor and the fan motor may be subjected to manual control and/or to automatic control by pressure 'or temperature actuated switches.

Referring now to the modified form of the invention which is shown in Figs. 5 and 6, this embodiment "is designed for floor installation and differs in a number of respects from the previously described form, although the pumping mechanism, which is the most important feature of the invention, is similar to that of Figs. 1

to 3. a

In this modified form of Figs. 5 and 6, the casing is oblong in cross section and comprises a front 43, aback 44, side 45, 46,v and bottom 47, which are preferably composed of materials such as galvanized sheet plates secured together in any suitable manner, as by welding or riveting; the bottom being provided with legs 48, preferably of angle iron.

The upper part of the casing houses a pair of blowers 49, 49, which may be of any well known or approved form and be secured within the casing in any appropriate manner, the fans of the said blowers (not shown) being rotated by a shaft 50, which is driven by a motor 51, carried by a bracket 52, through belt and pulley mechanism 53.

A set of eliminator blades 54 is fixed in the casing below the blowers by angle irons 55 that are fastened to the sides 45, 46, of the casing; and a coil 56, which has an inlet pipe 57 and a discharge pipe 58, is mounted about midway between the top and bottom of the casing by header plates 59, 60, which extend transversely of the casing and are suitably attached to its front and back.

The water circulating means which, as already indicated, is similar to that shown in Figs. 1 to 3, includes a cylindrical housing 61 that uprises from a reservoir 62, which is formed in the lower part of the casing. The housing is provided with a series of water inlet holes 63 and a vane sleeve 64, which is like sleeve 23, 24, 25, and is fixed in the housing below the said holes. A motor 65 surmounts housing 61 and its shaft 66 carries an impeller 67 which is located at the bottom of the housing and extends partly into a pump plenum chamber 68 that is connected with one end of the housing. A water delivery tube 69 is connected with the other end of chamber 68 and extends upwardly within the casing to a point intermediate the eliminator and the coil, where it connects with a manifold 70 from which project laterally a set of closed end water distributing pipes 71 that are provided with perforated nozzles along their lower surfaces, corresponding to nozzles 17 shown in Figs. 1 and 2. If desired, the tube 69 may be secured by any suitable means to the side 45 of the casing, and the pipes 71 may also be secured to each other and to the front 43 and back 44 of the casing by brackets or other equivalent means. The reservoir 62 has an overflow pipe 72 which pierces its bottom at 73, a water inlet pipe 74, a float valve 75, and a syphon tube 76, which are similar to the corresponding parts shown in Fig. 1. The front of the casing is provided with a metal air inlet grill 77 which permits air to be drawn into the casing, past the coil, water distributing pipes and eliminator, and be ejected at the top of the casing through the blower months.

The operation or functioning of this form of the invention shown in Figs. 5 and 6 is generally the same as that hereinabove described except that the suction generated by the blowers 49, 49, is substituted for the air stream generated by the fan 28, while the water falling from the distribution pipes 71 and dripping from the coil 56 and eliminator 54 passes directly into the reservoir 62 instead of being caught in a pan and returned to the reservoir. As in the case of the previously described form, the motors 51 and 65 of this modified form may be independently controlled manually and/ or automatically.

With reference to both forms of the invention, it will be seen that it provides for a very efiicient and rapid circulation and recirculation of water, as well as efficient cooling of the fluid within the evaporator, the function or result being accomplished with great economy of water and power and with avoidance of clogging the water distributing elements and the formation of undesirable deposits upon the coil; while such additional supply of fresh water as is desirable either for the purpose of replenishing the slight loss, or diluting the salt concentration, is automatically furnished.

It will be understood that various changes may be resorted to in the form, construction, material and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention; and hence I do not intend to be limited to details herein shown or described except as they may be included in the claims or be required by disclosures of the prior art.

What I claim is:

1. A water circulating pump designed and adapted for use in evaporative fluid cooling apparatus comprising, a plenum chamber having a water inlet in the top thereof and a water outlet, means for supplying water to the inlet, a motor, means supporting the motor above the inlet, a rotary drive shaft operatively connected with the motor and extending downwardly toward the inlet, a bladed impeller secured to the shaft at the inlet, at least one swirl resisting vane and means for fixing the same above the impeller in a plane at an angle to the plane of rotation of the impeller, the blades of the impeller being positioned in the plenum chamber inlet and extending into the chamber to an extent of approximately ten to thirty percent of the height of the impeller blades.

2. A water circulating pump designed and adapted for use in evaporative fluid cooling apparatus comprising, a plenum chamber having a water inlet in the top thereof and a water outlet, means for supplying water to the inlet, a motor, means supporting the motor above the inlet, a rotary drive shaft operatively connected with the motor and extending downwardly toward the inlet, a bladed impeller secured to the shaft at the inlet, at least one swirl resisting vane and means for fixing the same above the impeller in a plane at an angle to the plane of rotation of the impeller, the blades of the impeller being positioned in the plenum chamber inlet partly within and partly Without the chamber, and a housing rising from the plenum chamber inlet and enclosing the impeller and the vane or vanes, the said housing being smaller in cross section than and dilfering in cross sectional shape from the chamber and being provided with a water inlet in communication with the water supply.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,683,949 Bergdoll Sept. 11, 1928 1,758,391 Dunham May 13, 1930 1,768,130 Meaux June 24, 1930 1,772,862 Gerhard Aug. 12, 1930 1,891,201 Hoff Dec. 13, 1932 1,943,175 Gough Jan. 9, 1934 1,981,965 Morgan Nov. 27, 1934 2,284,948 Combs June 2, 1942 2,315,946 Durdin Apr. 6, 1943 2,416,031 Wade Feb. 18, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS 933,205 France Dec. 17, 1947 

